


It Might Not Hurt Now

by PreseaMoon



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-21
Updated: 2014-06-21
Packaged: 2018-02-05 13:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1820578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PreseaMoon/pseuds/PreseaMoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hakuryuu wakes up from his nightmare only to find a strange red eyed boy beside his bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Might Not Hurt Now

Hakuryuu is not always running in his dreams, but in this one he is, and unlike the reality, there is nowhere to escape. The familiar halls all lead to the fallen bodies of his brothers, again and again, and they never look any different. Bloody, burned, surrounded by broken dolls that were people before they cut them down.

The longer Hakuryuu runs, the more the fire grows, the smaller he becomes. Flames surround but never touch him, and the hall twists until there isn’t a difference between the floor and the wall. All he can do is run while smoke clouds overhead and fire chases after him.

And he wakes up to a ceiling that hasn’t yet grown familiar. The memory of smoke blurs his vision and sobs strangle him more efficiently than the fire ever did. His eyes are wet and his face is hot. He feels cold under his blankets.

From the corner of his vision there are widened red eyes staring into him. A red not like fire at all. The hue is off, more like ruby, and they’re ringed peculiarly with black, but it calls back the feeling of fire licking at his skin all the same. The not yet faded dream sharpens into clarity, the whole of it running through his mind in the space of a second. He starts to tremble and can’t stop for all that he tries.

“You’re Hakuryuu, right?” a young, bright voice says, utterly carefree, and Hakuryuu freezes, terror twisting itself around his arms and legs for no reason he can place.

Hakuryuu realizes he’s seen this boy—some important magician that showed up early in the morning. His name… Hakuryuu can’t remember. The whole thing was so busy and full of those people that it was hard to find focus beyond the throbbing in his head and the sting of his burns. Everyone was made to kneel, and he was brought in on a palanquin. So he must be important, but Hakuryuu doesn’t know for what reason.

They brought him, though, and that’s enough for Hakuryuu to not trust him, to want to stay far, far away from wherever this person decides to linger. That he has placed himself in Hakuryuu’s room makes that difficult to accomplish, he realizes.

Hakuryuu looks to the ceiling. From the corner of his eye, he can see the boy tilt his head curiously, looking to the ceiling then back to Hakuryuu.

“Are you ignoring me? Don’t you know who I am?” He climbs onto the bed and gets too close, practically touching him. The blanket isn’t nearly enough of a barrier.

Hakuryuu is uncertain if scooting away would be considered rude or not. But he doesn’t have much time to think about it, as the boy almost immediately sits on his stomach. He isn’t exactly heavy, but Hakuryuu is smaller than him by more than a little and the weight is too much. 

He squirms a little and says, “Please get off.”

The boy just grins and leans over him. A long, thick braid tumbles over his shoulder and lands on Hakuryuu’s chest. The tail of the braid flares out towards his face and scratches across his chin. “This is the first time I’ve heard you talk. I wasn’t sure you could.”

Hakuryuu frowns, a little indignant because this boy hasn’t even been here a whole day yet. They haven’t been introduced properly either. That he even knows Hakuryuu’s name is unexpected.

The boy reaches out a hand to Hakuryuu’s unscarred side, where it touches almost gently and wipes at his tears. Though he hardly seems compassionate, more curious. “You were having a nightmare, huh? I don’t have those.”

Hakuryuu’s frown deepens, unsure what he’s supposed to make of that, or if it’s something he’s even meant to respond to. The hand feels cool on his warm face. But he doesn’t want this strange boy They brought here touching him. He doesn’t want him anywhere near. 

He turns his head away. The boy leans to the side to follow and thankfully keeps his hands to himself.

“Please go away,” Hakuryuu says, voice too soft to quaver.

The boy narrows his eyes and purses his lips. He gets too close again. Hakuryuu can feel breath on his jaw. 

“You really don’t know who I am?” He sounds disappointed but suspicious, like he can tell it’s the truth but isn’t willing to believe it. Then he perks up. “Are you not a good listener? Haven’t they been talking about me for weeks?”

Hakuryuu swallows, feeling bombarded. A couple weeks ago none of his family was dead. He doesn’t know what to do with this person or how to tolerate him. If guards still watched his room, they’d hear the boy’s voice and scold him, telling him to not bother the prince so late into the night. They’d tell him to leave, and he’d have to do it. It wouldn’t matter who he was.

Hakuryuu’s face heats up and his eyes sting with unshed tears. He wishes he’d kept his bandages on for the night, as if it would shield him.

“I’m a magi,” the boy says with great importance, oblivious to Hakuryuu’s distress even while he’s watching closely. When Hakuryuu doesn’t react to the statement he pouts, saying, “There’s only three. In the whole entire world. And I’m one of them.” He pokes at Hakuryuu’s shoulders and chest repeatedly, as though it will help his words sink in. “I’m the magi Judar. Remember it. We’re gonna be friends from now on. And you’re gonna be one of my King Vessels someday.”

Hakuryuu doesn’t understand anything that’s just been said, but at least he knows the boy’s name now. Judar. He doesn’t remember ever being told it before now. No one said anything about his arrival. Or they just didn’t tell him.

Judar keeps poking at him, waiting for a response, poking harder the longer he has to wait. He doesn’t stop even when Hakuryuu winces, just grows more persistent, like Hakuryuu’s pain is a positive sign.

“What do you want? Go away, I’m trying to sleep.”

“No you aren’t,” Judar accuses, “your eyes aren’t even closed. If you’re up anyway, you should play with me.” He shakes Hakuryuu’s shoulders and only stops once Hakuryuu has finally looked at him.

“I don’t want to play with you.”

He wants to go to Hakuei—would this person even listen to his sister? But he goes to her too often these days. She told him to be strong, that he needs to be strong, and that means standing on his own sometimes. It means sometimes he can’t rely on her or mother or anyone else. Only himself, but he doesn’t know how he’s supposed to do that. Especially not when someone like this is badgering him and poking him and won’t listen to anything he says.

“What? That doesn’t make any sense,” Judar says, sounding genuinely baffled. “Why don’t you want to play with me? Is it because you had a nightmare? Don’t be such a baby, Hakuryuu.” He proceeds to wipe away the remainder of tears with his sleeve, and then swipes it across Hakuryuu’s eyes for good measure. He grins, and his smile is so bright it almost hurts. “There. Now it’s like it never happened. So let’s play.”

Hakuryuu’s chest feels so heavy it’s hard to breathe. There’s a renewed stinging in his eyes. “Get off me,” he says.

This time his request is granted, Judar hopping off immediately, and Hakuryuu sits up so he can’t change his mind. He doesn’t want to play with him, or spend time with him at all, but…

Judar stares at him expectantly, and then grabs his hand and starts to pull him across the bed impatiently. Startled, Hakuryuu tugs back with so much force he falls back and pulls Judar along, causing him to land on top of him heavily.

“What game is this?” Judar says as he sits back up, looking interested and eager.

Hakuryuu curls a little in on himself anyway and thinks it’d be easier if he’d gotten angry instead. They sit on his bed in silence. Judar patiently waits for a response and Hakuryuu doesn’t know what to say.

For some reason he doesn’t want to say that it isn’t a game and can he leave already, please?

That’s when his door opens, abruptly, with no consideration to whether or not he’s sleeping, and in walks his mother. She looks concerned in a subdued way. Like she’s simply passing through—except she hasn’t come by Hakuryuu’s room since the fire. When her eyes come across them, or more accurately, Judar, she’s visibly relieved and smiles warmly.

“There you are. We’ve been looking for you. We were getting so worried.” 

“I was playing with Hakuryuu.”

His mother does not spare him a glance. As if he’s nothing but air. “Is that so?” she says sweetly, as though Judar is the one that’s her son. “Come now, you can play later. Right now, there’s a special treat for you. We’ve been waiting.”

Judar smiles and nods before crawling off the bed and to her waiting hand. He doesn’t take the offered hand, but she takes his—the way she used to take Hakuryuu’s—leading him to the door. 

Before she has a chance to close the door, Judar sticks his head back in. “We’ll play later,” he says with an almost frightening level of determination.

The door doesn’t close, and Hakuryuu realizes he’s supposed to respond. “O-okay,” he says blindly, watching the still silhouette of his mother. His burns throb.

“Don’t cry, Hakuryuu. Someday you’re gonna be really strong, and I’ll be the one to lead you there.” 

Hakuryuu opens his mouth to respond, but then the room is drenched in darkness. They are gone, and he is an afterthought.

His heart is full of something he can’t identify, and because he can’t identify it, he wants it to go away and leave him alone. Just like that Magi can leave him alone. And his mother can leave him alone. 

And so can everyone else.


End file.
